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No, not just that he was secretly watching - but he was really everywhere.

Most TV commercials, mall window displays and newspaper ads revolved around Santa and his cause.

If the Big Guy was recommending it then it was worth having — from breakfast cereal to Local Larry's used furniture warehouse to the smallest M&M.

We didn't just learn about Big Red from our parents — he was there in the ad-copy.

Today, you can likely name perhaps two major advertising campaigns across hundreds of TV channels that use St. Nick.

So you wonder, sitting with your feet up on the bags just brought back from the mall, furrowed and worried brow lit only by your remote-controlled LED festive lights, is Christmas' best salesman being replaced? Has Kris Kringle — after a century of selling — lost his marketing magic?

Jennifer Andrews is a Santa snob. A connoisseur of all things Claus.

This year, her Calgary-based Santa School will have trained about 75 of the finest St. Nicks — commercial stand-ins, she points out, for the real Father Christmas — shipping doppelgangers to jobs as far away as Hong Kong.

She doesn't worry the Santa brand is in peril.

"I'm sure booking a lot," she says.

In fact, the mother of two argues he's more prized today, as people demand higher quality versions of goods than in yesteryear.

Annually, Forbes puts out a list of the top 15 fictional earners. This year, on top was Smaug ($62 billion US), from The Hobbit, along with the likes of Forrest Gump ($5.7 billion US) and C. Montgomery Burns ($1.3 billion US).

But until 2006, Santa reined NO. 1 with a net worth of infinity. However, those compiling the list were forced to take him off, after getting angry letters from parents and kids asking how he ended up on a spreadsheet of great pretenders?

Donna Sears, an assistant professor of marketing at Acadia University in Nova Scotia, says Santa owes a lot to advertising.

"In some ways, it's made him into what he is," she explains.

And because he's so much a part of the good times in many lives, she doesn't believe he's lost his clout, saying: "We're ... attached to the things that remind us of our history.

"He's too important of a figure."

However, Queen's University marketing professor Ken Wong warns his power could diminish if not watched-over.

"He has all the characteristics of a great iconic brand," says Wong. "But even great, iconic brands have to be fed and nourished."

If there is any reduction in the times we see Santa ads, there may be more practical than politically correct reasons for it, says Surjit Singh Rai, associate chair of the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology's bachelor of business administration degree.

From his Edmonton office, he says compared to decades past, advertisers now cut to the chase quicker -- here's the product and why you need it.

He agrees consumers are also protective of the big elf, and don't want to see him hawking beer or diet pills.

"Some would see that as tacky," the professor knows, adding Santa is a powerful image that is cherished by many even outside the Christian faith.

And since festive marketing campaigns today begin earlier in the year, advertisers find themselves unable to use Santa in commercials that could start at Thanksgiving.

He likens the big guy to James Bond.

"He's persistent," he assures of the immortal Christmas spirit.

So yes Virginia, just relax, before drifting off to sleep, and be confident of an ever-strong Santa — in his brand new 2013 Kia Sorento.

SANTA'S MOST MEMORABLE PITCHES

Santa is the best salesman in the world.

So it stands to reason he’s been called on to sell a lot of stuff over the decades.

That even includes — before he apparently knew better — cigarettes.

Here are some of the most memorable TV Santa-pitches:

1) M&Ms — A modern classic. Though it’s hard to believe those talking M&M candies really do exist. (Debuted early 2000’s)

2) Norelco — Santa riding a shaver through the snow. What childhood memories are made of. (1960’s)

3) Coke — Santa only has a bit part, but the commercial is one you likely have long remembered. (1996-97)

4) Polaroid – Often duplicated but not matched, kids try to catch Santa with camera (1980s)

5) Chevy — A hunter hedges about what he’s going to strap to the hood of that new vehicle. (current)

6) Best Buy – Another reminder that Santa is always fighting the latest gadget. (2011)

7) Kent smokes — Yes, it’s disturbing to see St. Nick as the backdrop to selling cigarettes, but adding in Dick Van Dyke means you can’t look away. (Mid-1960s)

8) Sylvania Flash — Only a guy dressed up as Santa, but still, an ad that looks like a Norman Rockwell cover. (mid-70s)